Midnight Honor

of gaining support or sympathy within the ranks of the English military, it died then and there. After fighting hundred-year wars to keep France on the other side of the Channel and repelling aninvincible armada with fishing boats and bonfire beacons, it is not likely they would invite either nation to encamp on their shores now. As for their being such fierce allies—where are they? King Louis promised forty thousand men and shiploads of guns and gold. To date, he has sent two worm-eaten hulks with a cargo of mismatched cannonballs—which, as it happens, are useless without the cannon to fire them.”
    Anne turned her head. “You have done a fine job of convincing yourself our cause was lost before it even began.”
    “I am only being realistic, Anne. As soon as the prince set foot on English soil, he was lost. Had he stopped at the border, had he consolidated his victories, reinforced his garrisons, called for recruits to guard our homes and our freedom against another English invasion …” His voice fell off suddenly. “Well, we will never know what might have happened, will we?”
    “It isn't too late. We could still help to defend our borders.”
    “Against thirty thousand vindictive Englishmen in a winter campaign? You know full well, when the prince crosses the River Esk back into Scotland, half the men he has will melt away and go home to their farms and families. He'll be lucky to keep the other half intact long enough to reach Edinburgh. Then again, if the reports are true …” He returned to his desk and opened the top drawer, hesitating but a moment before he withdrew a sheet of paper. Anne had seen enough official documents to recognize military seals and government stamps, just as she knew the grandiose flourish that identified the signature of John Campbell, fourth earl of Loudoun, commander of the English troops garrisoned in Inverness.
    “Cumberland's army is less than two days march behind the prince. If that is the case, he may not even make it as far as the border, and then the subject of whether or not he could defend Scotland against an invasion would be moot.”
    “Two days!”
    “And this report is forty-eight hours old.”
    Anne's breath stopped again as she looked into her husband's face. “What are you going to do?”
    “Truthfully? I am going to pray that whatever happenshappens several hundred miles from here. That it happens quickly and with the fewest possible repercussions for the rest of the country. What is more, as unpleasant and unpopular as it may seem to your grandfather and your cousins, I am going to do everything in my power to protect my home, my family, my clan.”
    “Even if it means taking up arms and fighting
against
the prince?”
    “The men of Clan Chattan will not be fighting anyone,” Angus stated flatly. “They will be deployed as guards and sentries only; I made that quite clear to Lord Loudoun at the outset.”
    “And if it happens they are on duty guarding the glens and bens around Inverness, acting as sentries when they see the prince riding up the road … will they lay their muskets aside or will they be ordered to fire upon him?”
    Angus bowed his head and exhaled through pursed lips. “I pray each night it will never come to that, just as I have prayed each night both sides would come to their senses and find a way to resolve this thing peacefully.”
    “This thing,” she murmured. “Can you not even bring yourself to put a name to it? It is war, Angus. War. And in war there must be a side that wins and a side that loses. What you have done, what you continue to do by supporting the English, is only helping the wrong side win.”
    “Your
wrong side,” he said with quiet emphasis. “I am trying very hard not to have one.”
    “Yes, I can see how hard you try. The dinners at Culloden House, the soirees at Fort George, the government favors and promises of land and estates in exchange for your cooperation. It must be very difficult pretending not to enjoy all the flattery and attention.”
    “I try to take it in stride,” he retorted dryly. “Should I assume, by the charming look of derision on your face when you mentioned Culloden House just now, that you have forgotten the dinner party we are
both
expected to attend there tomorrow night?”
    “Dinner party?”
    “To celebrate Lady Regina Forbes's eightieth birthday?”
    “Oh good God, I had completely forgotten!” Her eyeswidened with disbelief. “Surely you do not expect